


The Hill I Want To Die On

by ArchOfImagine



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Cap has powers, Cap_Ironman Reverse Bang Challenge, Captain America is snarky, Enemies to Lovers, Fuck Or Die, Inspired by Art, Kidnapped Tony Stark, M/M, Only one bed trope!, Sex Pollen, Snarrrrky, So many tropes, Tropes, Vague Soulmate Illusion, Well - Freeform, lots of tropes, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 13:51:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18829963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchOfImagine/pseuds/ArchOfImagine
Summary: Captain America is the only 'superhero' around, and since the government no longer has control over him... well, he sometimes uses his influence for a different version of 'good'.AKA: He gives the namesake of Stark Industries as much crap as possible via twitter and other media outlets. What is the point of having a female CEO, if the entire board of directors is male? And why do StarkPhones suddenly stop working as soon as the new version debuts?





	The Hill I Want To Die On

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Art for "The Hill I Want To Die On" by ArchOfImagine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18823486) by [salable_mystic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/salable_mystic/pseuds/salable_mystic). 



> So I decided to explore the Steve/Tony relationship dynamic, and jumped right into the [Cap_IM Reverse Bang](https://cap-ironman.dreamwidth.org). It has definitely been an experience, but Tony Stark is actually much easier to write than I expected.
> 
> Shout-out to my awesome artist [samy-arts/salable_mystic](https://samy-arts.tumblr.com/). Links to the pretty art are [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18823486/chapters/44667271) and [here.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18823486/chapters/44667280)

\--- **A Day With America’s Favorite Captain** \---

* * *

When it was announced last year that a body had been found frozen in the Arctic, a collective gasp went out over the United States. Could it be? Really? The hero of our history books was finally found? 

I’m going to be quite honest with y’all… weirder than finding out Captain America is _alive_ , is the idea that I could be sitting across from him, ready to interview him, like this is any other Friday afternoon with a celebrity. And listen, this is my _job._ I’ve been doing it for over a decade now! Which means it’s been about nine years and eleven months since I walked into an interview and got starstruck.

Cue meeting Captain America for the first time, and I have to spend a long minute finding my voice, while he smiles politely at me. 

Dear World… we are _so_ lucky to have this man back in our lives!

* * *

**People Magazine:**

I have to just start off by saying… I was _not_ expecting Captain America to roll up to this interview on a vintage Harley.

**Captain America:**

The crazy thing is, you’re owed a lot of backpay when you spend seven decades frozen. Clarabel, my bike, she was my first big purchase after waking up. She reminds me a lot of the bike I had during the war.

**PM:**

And how is life now? Waking up to a world no longer fighting?

**CA:**

Well, I’m not sure it’s fair to say that. We aren’t fighting like back then, but we still have soldiers waking up every morning on foreign soil, laying down their lives to protect our freedom. So I make sure to wake up and think about them. Think about the lives lost, both past and present, and the ones still fighting.

**PM:**

So aside from the purchase of Clarabel, any other big chunks of that backpay being spent on fun things?

**CA:**

Well, I bought a house.

**PM:**

A perfectly respectable purchase.

**CA:**

A hefty one, for sure. You know — and I can hear my best friend mocking me already for using this term, but — back in _my day_ , housing was never so outrageously expensive. How do working-class humans survive in this city?

**PM:**

We try to make ends meet. Not all of us can be Tony Stark, with our name on a skyscraper, you know?

**CA:**

That guy! I can’t say that I’ve ever met Mr. Stark, but if I did, I would have a few choice words, let me tell you. Not the least of which would be cluttering up our beautiful skyline with his ugly building.

**PM:**

He did recently come out with that new clean energy initiative. I suppose we could give him some credit for that…

**CA:**

Well, I mean, we _could_. But doing one small thing while all of the other larger problems still blossom isn’t very helpful, is it? Tony Stark… willing to make a female his acting CEO, but unable to realize that his entire board of directors is male and over the age of seventy. Don’t even get me started on his _StarkTech_ phone. A little bit conceited to put your name on every product, yes, but that could be forgiven if the phones didn’t magically stop working as soon as a brand new — more expensive — version was about to be released.

* * *

Tony held the magazine a little closer to his face — as if seeing it _right there_ would make the words more believable — and felt a glare creasing his forehead. “Does he really spend half of this article bitching about me?”

“I don’t think Captain America is part of the Tony Stark fanclub,” Pepper replied.

“Jarvis, send him a membership anyways.”

“Of course, sir.”

* * *

**Captain America** @ca1945 ᐧ 2h  
The @people article is getting a lot of attention. 

**Captain America** @ca1945 ᐧ 2h  
Probably for all of the wrong reasons. But I will not apologize for my opinions. @Stark and @SI have a lot to be held accountable for.

**Captain America** @ca1945 ᐧ 2h  
If you’re going to be the number one voice in any industry, make sure you’re leaving an impression on the world.

**Captain America** @ca1945 ᐧ 2h  
Support equality. There is no way @PepperPotts is the only strong female working for @SI, so why is the board just an expired sausage fest?

* * *

“How does Captain _fucking_ America know the term ‘sausage fest’?”

“The good captain seems to dislike you, sir.”

* * *

**Investigation of Abuse at Stark Industries**  
_Olivia Carlton | USA TODAY  
Updated 2:05 p.m. PDT Mar. 16, 2013_

>   
>  Two former employees of the global conglomerate Stark Industries stepped forward today with reports of sexual abuse happening within the company. The women, both filing the claim anonymously through law firm Nelson and Murdock, claim to have been sexually assaulted on numerous occasions by SI board member Obadiah Stane. Stane, a long time family friend of the Stark family, has been with the company since it's formation in the sixties.
> 
> We are still waiting to hear word from SI's current CEO Virginia Potts, or the namesake of the company Tony Stark, who heads up research and development. 
> 
> Ironically, this report comes after a very public bashing on twitter and in People Magazine, by America's favorite hero Captain America, who called out Stark Industries for not having any board members that weren't males over the age of seventy…

* * *

Tony rubbed his pointer finger and thumb along his forehead. It wasn’t helping his headache, but at least it made the other voices in the room quiet for a moment. Pepper was there, along with a whole gaggle of PR people and attorneys. All trying to figure out the best steps moving forward.

Thankfully, move one had been easy. Kicking Obadiah Stane out of the premises. Because once there was cause for suspicion, suddenly there were security videos and witness statements. The asshole had been quietly living under the Stark Industry name for years… all while making it look like trash in the privacy of his office.

So they had come to the conclusion that the women’s accusations were correct, and were now deciding on how to handle any court appearances or settlements.

“Stop! Shut up, all of you.” Tony pushed his chair back and stood, ignoring the looks that people were giving him. He was the _boss_... he could tell people to shut up! “Here is how this is going to work: we are going to offer the women the highest severance pay they can think of, as well as a glowing recommendation to their next employer. We are also going to publicly apologize for allowing all of this bullshit to happen under our noses. _Then_ I want someone to find a good self-defense instructor and everyone in the building who would like to learn will get a free lesson. So that the next time one of these dicks thinks they can touch a woman without consent… she can kick his ass.”

“Tony—”

“Yes, Ms. Potts?”

He finally looked across the boardroom table to meet Pepper’s gaze. She was… _smiling._ Odd.

“I believe that is the perfect plan. Cynthia, can you draft up some statements for our public apology and coordinate the press?”

From there it was a lot of mumbo-jumbo and ‘hey person do this’, so Tony helpfully tuned out, until Pepper gave him a look that clearly said he had permission to leave.

As soon as he made it to the elevator, he asked JARVIS to take him straight up to the penthouse. He was not in the mood for dealing with anymore business drama, so he was bypassing the research and development level for his own personal lab.

* * *

In the war, Steve had a close group of men that worked with him and had his back through thick and thin. When he woke up, and those men were old and gray, he went searching for kindred spirits and found himself at the local VA.

There, on a rainy Tuesday, he met James Barnes (“Bucky, if you want me to like you.”) — a man that would have fit in with the Howling Commandos like he belonged there. Mostly because he didn't let Steve get away with shit. On more than a couple of occasions, he found Steve out behind a bar kicking ass, and dragged him away. “Righteous punk, still fight like you got somethin’ to prove.”

Bucky became his best friend rather quickly. He also knew a few other retired soldiers and suddenly Steve had _new_ Howlies watching over him; keeping him company when he felt like shit and remembered all that he had lost.

It was Bucky who found him a job. Or, well… _hired_ him. Bucky owned a gym just down from the VA (and a couple blocks from Steve’s new condo), and when he saw the fight in Steve, he found a purpose for it. So three days a week, Steve taught local women self-defense courses… and the other two days of the work week were spent working with underprivileged kids, teaching self-defense, but also calm breathing techniques and how to handle a bully without violence.

All of that meant… he was qualified, yes, but totally not expecting to get a call asking him to come to Stark Industries and teach everyone interested some practical self-defense techniques. 

He actually _laughed_ at the poor guy on the other end of the line, before realizing it was an honest call and not some prank that Bucky was playing on him. _Whoops._

Considering no one (aside from a few trusted friends and the highest of higher-ups in the military) knew Captain America’s real identity, it wasn’t actually that strange for SI to go looking for a self-defense instructor and choose a random dude named Steve Rogers. But since _he_ knew the whole story… Steve found it ironic and hilarious.

Even still, it was a job and Bucky’s company could really use the recognition, so there was no way he would ever turn it down. Not to mention the fact that he had to give Stark credit for dealing with a controversial issue like the Stane mess, by initiating steps to protect women in the future. He was all for that kind of support.

And badass women reminded him of his best friend in the war… one of the baddest.

* * *

Two weeks later, Tony Stark started noticing some odd things happening around his company. 

There were a ton more murmurs around the office, whenever people didn't realize he was nearby. And the gym downstairs that he used on occasion (because it was blissfully quiet and empty)... was suddenly _swarming_ with people.

Then there was the research labs. The suddenly _empty_ research labs. “J, where is everyone?”

“Level four, sir.”

Four? A bunch of conference rooms and lecture halls? Maybe Pepper had them doing extra training after the Obadiah disaster. At least she wasn't making him sit through it. 

An hour later he was back up in the penthouse, looking through his private lab for the specs that he had configured in his last sleep-deprived daze, when JARVIS announced Pepper's arrival. Tony popped his head up over the machine he was tinkering with and frowned at the way Pepper looked. Her hair was a mess, clothes askew, and spots of sweat could be seen. Tony’s eyebrows raised. “Ms. Potts! Have you been doing the dirty?”

Pepper’s cheeks painted in a blush. “Can I use your shower?”

“I remember having ten perfectly acceptable showers installed on the gym level.”

“They’re full and I have a meeting in thirty minutes.”

Tony climbed out from behind his machine and straightened, ignoring the pops along his spine as he stretched. “Maybe you should have considered that when you went for a little midday hanky-panky?”

“I didn’t—” Pepper crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ve been participating in the self-defense classes. Today’s just happened to run over.”

_Boring._ Tony waved a hand and a screwdriver in the vague direction of the spare bathroom. “Have at it.”

* * *

The next week, he was looking all over the lab for Bruce, and coming up short. Which was _odd_ because they were in the middle of an experiment and should be working. “J, where is our favorite anger management patient?”

“Dr. Banner is on level four, participating in a last minute yoga class.”

“Yoga?” Tony scrunched his face up. “We’re teaching yoga now? What’s next? Massages?”

Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. He could use a massage…

* * *

A couple days later, he was scrounging around the cafeteria when he caught wind of some of the mumblings happening in the line behind him. He had his glasses on, and his beard was a mess (hair too, probably)... and he wasn’t positive when his last change of clothes happened. He had switched out a shirt at one point after an errant oil spill. When had that been?

The moral of the story was: no one seemed to recognize that the _boss_ was standing right there beside them. 

“Have you been yet?” Minion One asked. 

Tony reached for a slice of some kind of chocolate cake concoction, right as Minion Two responded, “Yes! I went last week.”

“He’s fantastic, isn’t he?”

“The _best._ ” 

“Have you seen him do yoga?” 

“Mmm, you could bounce a quarter off that ass.”

“It really is a shame that he’s gay. I feel like Mr. Stark is just using him to tempt us.”

Tony tried to keep his head turned enough that they wouldn’t realize who he was, and changed his voice a bit as he asked, “Who is Mr. Stark tempting us with?”

“You haven’t been?” Minion Two sounded appalled. “The new trainer teaching self-defense on level four… he’s an absolute dream. Honestly, Tara in HR thinks Mr. Stark built a robot. Because there is no way this guy is for real.”

* * *

He meant to ask Pepper about whomever had been hired to teach the self-defense classes, but as soon as he learned about the whole mess, she was off to L.A. for meetings. So Tony asked JARVIS to alert him before the next class, and made sure that he looked like _himself_ when he finally went down to see what all of the fuss was about.

The auditorium was packed with people. Weren't they supposed to be working? He felt like a grumbly boss for a moment as he stood in the back and watched. At the moment the stage was empty, while people got to their seats. Finally, once people were settled, a tall blonde man in a skin tight t-shirt and loose track pants got on the stage. Tony didn't have a _great_ view from the back of the large room… until the cameras clicked on and suddenly the guy was up close and personal on the big screens bracketing the stage.

_Holy shit._

No wonder the place was full.

“Hey guys.” He waved. Somebody in the back must have fitted him with a microphone. “For those of you that haven't been here before, my name is Steve Rogers and I'm here to teach you all some basic self-defense moves. Do I have anyone willing to volunteer to help out today?”

Hands went up all over the room. Tony ignored them, beginning to walk down the middle aisle of the auditorium. He raised his voice and called out, “I'll do it.”

The room went quiet and hands dropped back onto laps. Tony didn't have to look at the big screen to see the smirk play over Steve's face.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have finally caught the attention of your esteemed leader. Mr. Stark, welcome. Come on up.” As Tony walked up onto the stage, Steve asked the crowd, “You guys think I'll get fired for this?”

Seeing Steve Rogers up close was a bit startling. He was like some kind of Greek god. Tony shook off his thoughts of what the guy looked like in bed, in favor of holding his hand out. “Tony Stark.”

Steve shook his hand. “So I've heard. If it's alright, I'm going to start by showing the folks here a few moves to break out of holds. I'm going to face the audience, and I want you to come up behind me and wrap your arm around my neck in a chokehold. Got it?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “You do know I'm a genius, right?”

That smirk was still in place, looking a little more sinister by the minute. Steve nodded, turning to step onto a mat and face the audience. Tony gave him a breath, before moving up and wrapping his arms around Steve's neck from behind. There was some talking to the audience — at which point Tony’s attention was completely focused on cuddling the strong muscles of Steve’s back, rather than actually listening to what was being said. It couldn’t be that important, right? Because Tony was way too distracted by the sweat and deodorant scent on Steve's skin. Old Spice? Mmm— oh shit.

“Ow! What the fuck.” Suddenly Tony was flat on his back staring up at that same _annoying_ smirk.

Steve held a hand out to him. “Perfect, sir.” Once Tony was back on his feet, Steve turned back to the crowd and began explaining the next move…

Over the next thirty minutes, Tony got laid out on his back more times than he had in the past six months… which was rather disappointing. By the time it was all over, he was sore in places he never thought he could get sore in, and seriously regretting the decision to volunteer as guinea pig. 

Even still, he saved face and stuck it out until the whole thing was over and he was following Steve backstage while the auditorium emptied and people went back to their jobs. Once a tech had taken the microphone off of Steve’s shirt, he turned to Tony and smiled. “That was fun. Thanks for participating. I hope you don’t plan to fire me now—”

“I considered it,” Tony answered. “After about the fifth time being slammed onto that mat. I’m not as young and spry as some people.”

Steve laughed, and for a moment ducked his head and looked like he was far away and contemplating a joke only he knew. _Odd._

“So!” Tony clapped his hands together. “It’s lunch time. Plans? No? Good. Go ahead and shower and ask security to point you towards my private elevator. Food allergies?” Steve opened his mouth to answer, but Tony shook his head. “Good. I’ll order something.”

* * *

Steve Rogers didn't show up for lunch. Instead, a handwritten apology appeared, stating that Steve had to be back in Brooklyn for his next appointment and only had time to eat on his way.

_Huh._

Tony was only a little offended. After all, Pepper would have flipped out if she found out about the whole ordeal. Even if it was completely innocent. Just a boss trying to get to know the man that had been hired under his name.

* * *

“Are you telling me—”

“Bucky.”

“You had a date offer from the richest dude in New York—”

“Isn't that fashion guy richer?”

“ _In his penthouse._ And you decided to blow him off with a nicely worded letter? That's not the type of 'blowing off’ you do with a guy like Tony fucking Stark, Steve!”

"He's a pompous douchebag, Bucky!”

"Who also happens to have a reputation for being amazing in bed.”

Steve rolled his eyes. That definitely wasn't the type of relationship he was looking for. He had woken up in a time where it was legal for same sex couples to have a relationship without having to hide — he wasn't going to waste that opportunity.

Before Bucky could keep ranting at him, Steve's pocket began to ring. It wasn't the normal sound that his phone made, though. Instead, it was a shrill sound that immediately put him on alert.

Not many people in the future knew about Captain America, but he had promised those that did that he would help if he was ever needed. That sound meant that someone was calling for a favor.

"Hello?”

"Captain, my name is Colonel Rhodes with the United States Air Force… I could use your help with a very delicate matter.”

* * *

To say he was shocked would be an understatement. 

Colonel Rhodes requested to meet Captain America at a nondescript office building in downtown Manhattan. Then, he proceeded to explain that Tony Stark had been kidnapped some time the night before while in route somewhere between Stark Tower and the Italian restaurant he had dinner in. Witnesses confirmed they saw him get back into his car, but the car had been found abandoned a few blocks from the restaurant. 

It was mostly shocking because Steve had just seen Tony _the day before._ The idea that the man had gotten kidnapped so easily seemed like a shock. “Doesn’t he have bodyguards?” He asked the colonel.

“Tony doesn’t like people following him non-stop, so we only use bodyguards for big name events where it’s released ahead of time that he will be somewhere.”

Cap nodded. Based on his interactions with Tony, and what he had read about the man, that made sense. He continued flipping through the file that Rhodes had provided him with, before stopping at the list of possible suspects. “Isn’t this the man that was just fired from the board?”

“Obadiah Stane, yeah. He’s a sleazeball that liked to use the Stark family for their money. Suspect zero in my book.”

* * *

It was surprisingly easy to find the spot where men had Tony holed up. After watching security footage and spotting the license plate info of their getaway vehicle, he followed that information to a rundown house in Jersey.

In truth, anyone probably could have handled the whole mess. It maybe would have taken local PD a little bit longer, but they still would have gotten to the same conclusion. It was Cap’s understanding, though, that Colonel Rhodes had called him so that as few people as possible found out about Stark’s disappearance. If the media figured it out, the whole thing would turn into a mess. And if Stane was behind it all, he might get spooked and up the ante on the whole thing.

What he wasn't expecting, when he snuck into the house in his dark blue stealth suit, was to find a perfectly fine Tony Stark sitting at a table surrounded by three mostly naked men.

Cap paused, shield still at the ready. "Is this some kind of sex thing?”

Stark looked up and immediately grinned. "Captain America! Are you here to rescue little old me?”

“Well I thought I was, but I can't help but notice you don't exactly need rescuing.”

“Nonsense. The boys and I were just playing some strip poker to pass the time. You see their boss only paid them half the money up front, so they got a little irritated at me constantly reciting the periodic table and decided it wasn't worth it to keep going on the job. So they set me free.”

“And you didn't leave… because?”

Stark's nose scrunched up at the idea. “It's fucking Jersey. I'm not going to be spotted walking around fucking Jersey. So I decided to wait for the calvary.” Tony leaned to the side, to see around Cap. “I have to say I was hoping to be more than a one man job.”

“It's called _stealth_ , Mr. Stark.”

“Budget cuts, more like.” Tony stood up and brushed his suit pants off. “Well, boys, it has been a real pleasure. I'm going to go wait outside while the good Captain does his thing.”

Ten minutes later, Cap walked back out of the house, leaving the men tied up in the kitchen for local law enforcement to find after he called it in. Which he wouldn't do until they were far enough away. He didn't want the whole world to know that he was working jobs (especially _Bucky_ who wouldn't shut up if he knew) in his spare time.

Stark stood with his arms crossed, staring at Cap's Harley. Walking up, he pulled the extra helmet off and handed it over. “Come on. We need to be a few clicks out before I can call this in.”

“I was not expecting a joyride with Captain America. You'll forgive me if I get a little turned on. That suit plus the bike is like all of my wettest wet dreams.”

“Shut up, Stark.”

* * *

“I've secured the package.” 

“Good. Go to the safe house as directed. We've got multiple threats still in play. I'll call with updates.”

* * *

It was a bad idea.

Being stuck with Tony Stark for an indeterminate amount of time in an off the grid house site was going to lead to his insanity or demise… whichever came first. Being on the motorcycle with the hot line of Tony's body pressed against his back had been bad enough!

That wasn't even factoring in the worst part…

Cap finished turning on the generator in the home and walked inside to see Stark standing there looking a bit disoriented. “There isn't internet! What the hell am I supposed to do without internet?”

He pointed slowly at the wall of bookshelves, filled to the brim with books. “Read?”

Stark gaped at him like a dying fish for a few minutes, before huffing and walking over to the kitchen to search through its contents.

_Diva._ Cap couldn’t help but think. 

While the room was momentarily quiet, he realized how frustrating it was going to be, if he had to stay there for a long period of time in his Captain America get-up. The cowl was already starting to itch and cause a distraction. _Ugh._

They got settled in over the next couple of hours — with Stark begrudgingly picking out a few books, while Cap made them a meal of steaks and canned vegetables (the steaks he had thankfully thought to buy on his way up to the house, because they definitely wouldn’t survive on what had been there). 

After they had eaten, Stark went back to his book while Cap found a drawing tablet in his duffel bag and began sketching to pass the time. It was quiet for a lot longer than he expected, but eventually there was a huff from across the room and he suddenly knew that Stark had reached his limit.

“I’m not in charge of who gets chosen for the board, you know.”

“Hmm?”

Stark huffed. “Most of those guys were around when my father was still in charge of the company. And the process to replace them is written in the founding bylaws, so I can’t exactly fire them without just cause, like with Obadiah.”

Cap closed his notebook and gave Stark his attention. “Raising awareness of a problem becomes a benefit for an organization. What if my raising awareness was what sparked those reports of sexual abuse? I’m not arrogant enough to think that I’m the reason for any of that, I’m just saying that sometimes one word can be a catalyst for change. And I’ve noticed in this society that a lot of people are afraid to speak up.”

“Pepper — uh, Ms. Potts — she gives me a lot of shit for allowing things to run in ways that my father had them. To be honest, nothing you said was new. Even the crap about releasing new products when the other ones start to have troubles. Do you know how many times I’ve brought that up in meetings? My name is on the fucking building but all I get to do is research and development.” Stark got quiet for a moment, looking down at his book. Was he… was he reading a romance novel? How had Cap missed that? “I’ve been designing a line of prosthetic limbs, trying to step in and help soldiers in need. I’ve got enough prototypes designed that we could start rolling out a trial period, but Obadiah… uh, Stane.. He didn’t want anything to do with it. Said we weren’t a charity.”

“What bullshit,” Cap growled. He thought about all of the men that he had met down at the VA that could use a prosthetic designed by Stark. He could fill a sheet of paper twice over with names. “I volunteer at the VA in my spare time. Have a few friends down there that would really benefit from that kind of device. Most of what they can get with their benefits package aren’t worth shit.”

There was a momentary silence, before Stark started to chuckle. When Cap frowned at him, he shook his head and waved it off. “I’m sorry, it’s just… now that I think about it? The idea of you cursing is absolutely hilarious. My dad… some days he hated your guts, and some days he worshipped the ground you walked on. But if he found out you — _gasp_ — curse? Oh boy. He’s probably rolling in his grave.”

_Annoying._ “I’m not a saint, Stark. I lived through the worst war in history… of course I curse like a fucking sailor. The Howlies would have given me shit if I didn't.”

“Good point. I guess I can’t see you lecturing Schmidt for foul language.”

"Too busy punching him in the face. Just because my sins weren't on the front page, doesn't mean it didn't happen. News flash: I'm not a virgin, either."

Tony let out a faux gasp. “You cad! Next thing I know, you’ll be telling me that you drive that fancy motorcycle without a license.”

“Like the powers that be would let me leave their presence without all of my fake papers.” Cap snorted. “But laws and I never got along well in the past. Liking dick in the 30s wasn’t exactly state approved.”

“Wait. _Wait._ Captain America is gay?”

Cap rolled his eyes. “No. Captain America is a persona used to protect an identity. The man he protects is gay.”

“Oh.” Stark’s glee dropped off his face, and he looked down at his forgotten book for a long moment, before he laid it open on the table beside him, and leaned forward in his chair. He held his arm out across the distance between them. “My name is Tony. I’m a bit of a genius, who likes to drink too much coffee and hide out in his workshop. Despite my outward appearance? My close friends would all tell you that I’m an introvert. I’ve got like three of those… four, if you count the AI system that I designed as a teenager.” Tony paused, before holding Cap’s gaze and continuing on, “Most people hear my last name and think I’m a spoiled rich kid who has never fought for anything. The Stark name is a _persona_ that protects the forgotten man behind it.”

_Oh shit._

Suddenly Cap understood exactly the point that Tony was trying to make. He bit his lip, staring at the outstretched hand for a long moment, before he reached up and pulled his cowl off. He kept his head ducked, though, as he shook Tony’s hand. “Steve Rogers. Tiny guy from Brooklyn.”

* * *

Tony’s chest itched. He ignored the tingling in his palms as he shook Steve’s hand, and then immediately brought his hand up to scratch at the center of his chest. Apparently the fact that Steve Rogers, _self-defense coach_ , looked like he was designed in a lab to be every woman’s (and man’s) perfect wet dream… was just that: a fact. Because that body _had_ been designed in a lab. And maybe the scientists involved had been more concerned with creating a perfect soldier, but they had inadvertantly also created a perfect porn star.

“No wonder you didn’t show up for lunch,” Tony said without thinking twice.

The cowl had hidden a perfect blush on those perfect cheeks… which really was a shame. Steve scratched at the back of his neck and continued to avoid Tony’s gaze. It was wild, and a bit hard to believe, but already Tony could see the two different men that made up one soldier. Captain America was a hardass that didn’t let anything get to him. Steve Rogers was… well, just a kid from Brooklyn. Someone that didn’t realize his own worth and probably wasn’t used to getting complimented.

What a fucking shame. More people needed to admire Steve Rogers, because the Cap persona didn’t deserve all of the love.

“I keep a pretty low profile. This Cap stuff… I don’t want to deal with the fallout, if it gets out who I actually am. A few select people know, yes, but if the _wrong_ people knew, then my friends would be in danger.”

Tony nodded, because he could understand all of that. And dating Tony Stark wasn’t exactly ‘low profile,’ but… “I hate to point this out, but I wanted to go out with Steve Rogers, not Captain America.”

“I know. _I know._ But… how do you date someone, and keep such a huge secret about yourself? I always answer if I’m called. How do I explain being gone for days at a time while I’m on a mission? Or if I get hurt?”

“Fair point. So.” Tony scratched idly at his chest, before realizing what he was doing and moving his hand up to scratch at his beard instead. “I can’t help but notice that I’m now one of the few people who knows both identities. Which seems like a perfect time to ask _again_ if you’d like to have lunch…”

* * *

They were at the cabin for thirty-six hours. Tony was going a little insane by the end of it (romance novels were _trash_ , on their best day), but at least he walked away with Steve’s number and a promise of lunch.

Unfortunately that was mostly delayed by the ensuing legal battle with Obadiah Stane, who had conspired to have Tony kidnapped and later killed. Unfortunately the guy picked terrible cronies who had all flipped on him as soon as they were caught.

Lunch took over four weeks to happen. And even then, it was more of a mid-afternoon ‘I’m not busy wanna grab pho?’ thing. Followed by a ‘Steve, seriously, you don’t know what pho is? Welcome to the new century.’

Steve loved pho, so the next outing (dinner, officially) was Tony’s favorite Indian place. _”I love meals that consist of dipping bread in sauce,”_ Tony had explained. Tikka masala was a winner.

As was Thai (although _’I like the Indian version of curry better’_ ), and Moroccan. He also had to literally be dragged away from the cronut shop — Tony contemplated buying the entire cafe when he saw the pouty look on Steve’s face as they walked away.

Before he knew what was happening, a month of random here-and-there dates had passed and Tony realized they might actually have something real happening. And, also, Steve didn’t hate him? Which was a miracle. Granted, there wasn’t much he could do that was worse than the way he’d acted while bored in that damn safe house.

He was just about to broach the topic of ‘hey, are you my boyfriend’ and ‘as my boyfriend would you like to put your dick in my ass’... when Cap got called up on a mission. Despite stilted messages on the satellite powered texting device that Tony had designed for him, he didn’t hear much from Steve for the next two weeks.

On day sixteen, he finally got another text. _Made it home. Decompressing. Sleeping. Will see you soon._ Soon could mean anything.

A day later, JARVIS spoke up while Tony was in the middle of designing his latest prosthetic prototype. “Sir, I have a James Barnes on the line who says he has an urgent message for you in regards to Captain Rogers.”

_Who?_ “Put him through, J.”

“Stark?”

“Speaking.”

“My name is Bucky. I’m a friend of Steve’s. And since I’m technically his damn boss and he said he was going to work today, I got a bit worried when he didn’t show up. So I went to check on him.”

Tony’s attention was suddenly completely focused on the phone call. “What happened?”

“Well… he’s sick? Kinda. It’s hard to explain.”

“Try.”

“Aah, probably best not to do it over the phone.”

_What._ His first instinct was to say that Steve’s serum would never let him contract a common virus, but he didn’t know how much Barnes knew about Steve’s real identity, so he kept that fun fact to himself. “Are you taking him to a hospital? I could probably meet you there. Although, I’m not even sure that we’re officially dating, so it might be a bit premature for me to show up for hospital visits—”

“Actually we’re coming to you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I’m about two minutes out. Do you have a back entrance or something? I don’t want a lot of people seeing him like this.”

_Weird._

He gave Bucky directions to the parking garage and back elevator that would lead directly to his level of the tower. When he had hung up with the man, he asked JARVIS to allow them access, before anxiously pulling up the security feeds to watch what was happening. Why was he so nervous? He kept biting back the urge to ask JARVIS of their position — which would be stupid, since he was literally watching a feed of that actual information. He twisted his hands around a dirty rag and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

The car that pulled in was nothing to write home about, but it wasn’t hard to notice Steve’s bulky form in the passenger seat. Barnes had to physically wrestle Steve out of the car, and when he had, Steve clung to him like a leech. The feed in the elevator switched on and Tony watched as Barnes swatted Steve away, despite the fact that Steve was trying to kiss up his neck. 

He bit back his own jealousy with a mental reminder that they hadn't had a boyfriend talk yet and weren't technically exclusive. Steve could kiss whomever he wanted.

Even if it made Tony's chest itch.

The elevator dinged and he motioned for the feeds to disappear right as the doors slid open. 

“Please, Buck!” Was the first thing said. Steve's voice was a whimpering plea.

“No.” Barnes looked up and sighed in relief when he saw Tony walking towards them. “Oh thank God!” He all but shoved Steve into Tony's arms. “I didn't know who else was an option. And I surely wasn't going to fuck him.”

“What?” Tony asked in pure confusion. 

Steve started kissing up Tony's neck with a moan. “Mmm, Tony, you smell amazing.”

Barnes rolled his eyes. “He got hit with something on our last mission.” 

“Wait, our?”

“When I found out the dumbass was doing shit on his own, going all rogue, I told him I wasn't letting him go in alone again. And I'll be damned if I'm going to trust whatever secret military goons they try to assign him!”

“ _Oh._ ” 

“We were in Asia, trying to rescue some kids. When we saved them, the shaman blessed him with fertility. I think the goal was to make him horny for a few hours so he'd go home to his lady and make babies. But Stevie don't have a lady and now his serum is making him hornier than a rabbit.”

“Oh. Uhh…” _Think._ Why was that so hard when Steve was trying to get under his clothes? “This isn't really consent.”

“I consent to you fucking me,” Steve whispered in his ear.

Barnes rolled his eyes. “He's still Steve. Just a hornier version. And from what I'm gathering… this is an act that needs a partner and completion to make him better.”

“Better? What is worse?”

“Either he explodes from pent up sexual tension or he starts humping people in public? Do we really wanna find out?” At the thought of Steve humping some random person on the street (talk about consent issues!), Tony shook his head. Barnes took that as acceptance and motioned to the elevator. “I'm going to go, before I see more than my brain can erase. Call me when he's normal.”

“Wait, how will I—”

“Byeeeee.”

Once the elevator doors had closed once more, and they were alone, Steve struggled to straighten up and stand on his own. “Tony?”

There was a sudden lucidity in his voice that hadn’t been there before. Tony raised a hand up and laid it on Steve’s cheek. “Yeah, pal? You okay in there?”

“It hurts. Feels like my whole body is burning up.”

Tony could tell, his hand sliding along Steve’s face and feeling the warmth of his skin. “I think you have a fever. Listen, Steve… I have a friend that’s a scientist with biology experience. We can fix this with science. You don’t have to—”

Steve turned his head and kissed Tony’s palm. “I want to.”

“But—”

“This was going to happen anyway. At least I planned for it to.”

_Oh._ “Yeah.” Tony's voice got a bit wispy. “Yeah.” He nodded his head in the direction of his personal suite. “Let's take this to the bedroom, yeah?”

As soon as they were inside the large master bedroom, Steve was stripping out of his clothing. “I'm sorry… I'm just so _hot._ ”

_I’ll say._

Tony wiggled a bit where he stood, trying to keep his gaze on the floor, but finding himself looking up over and over to take in everything that was Steve Rogers naked. Finally, he scratched his hand at the back of his neck and met Steve’s lust-filled gaze. “So. Do you uh… preference?”

Steve sat on the edge of the bed, and quickly moved around until he was comfortable. “I think… _fuck._ Yeah. I think I need to fuck.”

That seemed reasonable, since Barnes had mentioned the whole thing being an effort for Steve to spread his seed merrily — Tony snorted before quickly shaking his head and motioning to the master bath. “I’m gonna just go get ready? Real fast. I swear. Don’t self-combust, okay? I cannot stress that fact enough. That is a _brand new_ duvet.”

Ten minutes later he was back out of the bathroom and actually _laughed_ at the sight that welcomed him. At some point in the ten minutes, Steve had rolled over, shoved a pillow under his hips, and started humping the poor thing. He looked like a horny teenager, naked ass bouncing in the wind.

Which… _nice._ Tony tilted his head and admired the view. Steve hadn’t noticed he was there yet, allowing for just a few moments of uninterrupted voyeurism. 

_That is America’s ass,_ a voice inside Tony whispered in awe.

He must have moaned or made some other minimal noise, because suddenly a sharp blue gaze was focused on him and Tony felt his own cock twitching. 

“Tony.”

“ _Steve._ ”

Any other time, he might have considered making Steve beg a bit, but what was the point? The man was obviously desperate and in need. And Tony had to admit… seeing that leaking cock twitching while Steve stared at him… well, it was enough to make Tony just as needy.

He skimmed around the bed, feeling Steve’s intense gaze following his every movement, until he got to the bedside table and opened the drawer. He plucked one condom from the box, but on second thought grabbed another two and left them on top of the table ( _just in case_ ). Shucking the wrapper, he finally climbed onto the bed, straddling Steve’s lap and bringing the condom to the tip of that gorgeous cock…

It was maybe a bit disconcerting that Steve hadn’t said a word. Once the condom was on, Tony blinked and looked up. Steve’s breathing was tense and there was something in his eyes that said he was barely holding onto the smallest thread of self-control. 

Tony held up one finger. _Wait._ Steve shuddered, but managed the slightest nod of his head. With that understood, Tony kept one hand on Steve’s left hip (keeping him still) and used the other to guide Steve’s cock carefully inside of his well-prepped ass.

It felt _amazing_ but he knew that once the moment was up, he was going to have to hold on and enjoy, while Steve went wild.

So he gave himself as long as possible to savor the stretch… before he looked back to Steve and smirked. _”Fuck. Me.”_

* * *

Tony Stark, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist… despite all of his sordid ‘history’... had never actually had what one would consider ‘marathon’ sex. He had been cursed with a ridiculously long refractory period, even as a teenager, so most of his sex experiences were a ‘one and done’... so to speak.

So the fact that Steve Rogers — in all of his sexed-up glory — managed to coax _three_ (three!) orgasms out of him in an eight hour period of time… was a bit of a miracle.

And cause for a great deal of exhaustion.

The next time he was lucid, was probably twelve hours later, when the need to pee and drink coffee (one day he was going to install a coffee maker in his bathroom because that long walk to the kitchen without caffeine was absolute hell), became a necessity.

He had just walked out of the bathroom, brain focused on _coffee_ as he pulled his robe on, when there was a sharp laugh from the bed.

Tony Stark did _not_ scream like a girl or jump when startled.

He did not.

Nope.

His focus went to where Steve sat, leaning casually against the headboard in all his naked glory. Ignoring his suddenly racing heart, Tony raised a curious (and only mildly aggravated) eyebrow.

Steve pointed to Tony’s naked chest. “I hadn’t… I was so out of my head that I didn’t even see it.”

“What?” He looked down, to where Steve was pointing, and his shoulders immediately slumped. “Shit.”

How had he forgotten?

“Do you seriously—”

“I knew I should have had that removed.”

“ _Why_ do you have my shield tattooed on your chest?”

Tony scratched over the old tattoo. “Would you believe it’s because you’re my soulmate?” When that was answered with a bemused snort, he shook his head. “My dad had a love/hate thing for you. Went up and down depending on his mood. But most days he idolized you as a ‘man’s man’... so when I came out as not completely heterosexual… well, he got pissed. So I celebrated with a tattoo.”

Suddenly the smile on Steve’s face turned genuine, and he was beckoning Tony across the room. After a soft kiss was placed on the shield, Steve looked up, and his voice changed _just slightly._

“You’ve made Captain America very proud.”

**Author's Note:**

> Links to the pretty art are [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18823486/chapters/44667271) and [here.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18823486/chapters/44667280) Remember to check it out and give Samy a kudos!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for "The Hill I Want To Die On" by ArchOfImagine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18823486) by [salable_mystic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/salable_mystic/pseuds/salable_mystic)




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